The holidays are sneaking up on us, and my kids are making lists of all the things we’re going to do that don’t involve eating dinners out of Tupperware in the back of the minivan or needing to get out of our pajamas. They crave the change in routine as much as I do. We’re looking up family-friendly movies (and have a few we plan to see in the theatre, too) and piling up games and puzzles to take over the dining room table after Christmas dinner is cleared.

We are a household that enjoys games, both hands-on and screen-based. Each year, we put a new set of board games (see last year’s post for my top five suggestions) under the tree. Here are some family-friendly versions we’ve discovered this past year and a couple of new ones that we look forward to unwrapping during our holiday hygge.

BLOKUS﻿Just like one of our other family favourites, Bounce Off, this game requires minimal explanation or time spent working out the rules. It’s perfect for a wide variety of ages, and easy to pull out at playdates. It’s a hands-on Tetris like game and appeals to anyone who likes geometry and strategy.

Got a kid who could use some extra practice with math? This is the perfect sneaky way to make that happen, while still having fun. My parents love playing this game and my sister generously gifted our house and theirs with our own sets.

I used to love playing games like Risk and Survival when I was a kid, so it delights me to see my son and his friends gathered around a card table playing this very popular and strategic game. It’s great for communication and provides a good pace for hoovering back lots of snacks, too. There are also several add-on packs that can be purchased.

I haven’t had a chance to play this game yet, but all the reviews I’ve heard from family and friends have been positive. Like, Settlers of Catan, it’s a game of strategy. It’s also a game that straddles several age groups and perfect for parents to play with their kids.

There is a lot of Potter paraphernalia going under our tree this year. We’ve had the travel-sized Harry Potter Trivia Pursuit set of cards since two Christmases ago, but this year we’re going big with the full-scale version. I’m no longer able to compete with my kids when it comes to any Potter trivia. But it warms my heart to watch them tossing out facts about these beloved characters. All four of them are heavily invested in the series, and I know this is going to be a hit for our family.

If you have any MUST-PLAY games to add to this list, please send them my way. We have every intention of going into full hibernation this holiday season. It’s a great time to reconnect and catch up with each other, and I’m really looking forward to the slower pace now that my kids are old enough to hang out without squabbling (most of the time, anyway). Happy gaming!

I’ve been trying to sort out why I was so affected by this story and the honest and candid telling of it by Canadian journalist, Sunny Dhillon. When it came across my feed, something compelled me to read it. I wasn’t previously familiar with Sunny’s work, but as I made my way through his words I felt something loosening inside of me. I think the issues he addresses have been whispering at me for a long while, asking me to step out from behind the role I am most known for in this space. Stories of my present life have been safe stories to tell, and I am glad to tell them. But as my children inch closer to adulthood, the whispers are getting more persistent. “What are you doing about the other stories you can tell?”

On which issues do you weigh in? On which issues do you not? What do you pretend you didn’t see or hear? When that isn’t possible to what do you cowardly chuckle along?

The world has gotten uglier in recent years — I wasn’t exactly thrilled with how we were doing on race before that — and for me it has become more difficult to let things slide.

~ Sunny Dhillon

I have been discriminated against. I have chuckled along politely. I have been ashamed of my ethnicity, and I’ve made good-natured fun of it, too. But I have finally come to a place of deep love and respect for my culture—especially after becoming a mother and realizing how much it mattered to me that my children knew who they come from. As they try to find their own places in society, I’ve become more intolerant and outspoken about prejudice against any marginalized people. They need me to be that role model for them. There’s no way to shield them from the ugliness, and we welcome them to ask questions. I don’t want to raise them in a way that quiets their compassion or robs them of their power to bring much-needed change.

We have reached a crucial time of reckoning, when voices of the other need to be louder than ever. Being biracial, and especially carrying my father’s last name, means I have to take a hard look at the ways I have aligned with my white identity—which I also love and deeply respect—to protect and/or makes things easier through my life. It’s time for the harder experiences I’ve had as an other to make themselves known, too.

The world feels like it’s burning in all the wrong places. I was deeply affected by Sunny Dhillon’s story, because it made me feel like he was lighting my fire and asking me to turn and light the fire of the person next to me. His actions reminded me that it starts with me and continues with you.

The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt

~ Sylvia Plath

After seeing the success I was having with my writing and the positive changes in my self-worth that came with it, my husband surprised me one weekend by giving up a lot of sleep and time to disassemble and empty our walk-in closet and mark out a new space that would become a hidden office and writing hideaway for me. I came home from a weekend away and walked into a transformed room — it was the most beautiful gift he’s ever given me.

As is the way when raising young kids, the ongoing renovation and steps to completing that space were long and drawn out. But every one of those steps, like when he chose the wood that would become my desk top and then sanded and stained it or the window he found someone to cut into the brick wall so I would have natural light, were tokens of love and appreciation extended to me by him, and I felt each one as a vote of confidence. I had every intention of showing him that it mattered to me and would make such a difference in my productivity and creativity.

But for the past few months, I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about my fear that I’ve lost my creativity. I worry it’s been buried under my responsibilities and the grind of parenthood. And I don’t mean that in a way that implies resentment; I’ve made my choices, and I know they were right. But I do feel a sense of loss, and pretending otherwise is not fair to me or anyone one else who is trying to parent while finding the space to create.

I feel like I’m failing to show him how much it meant to me and that’s taking up a lot of space in my brain, too. What does motherhood do to creativity? It’s a different experience for everyone (read this article for a good start). For me, writing began as a justifiable way to escape and now it threatens to smother me with its expectations — and that’s the simple answer. I know there are a lot of factors playing tricks on me, and some may have nothing to do with being a mother.

Right now, I’m stuck somewhere between guilt and frustration. It’s important for me to continue to do work that helps support our family, and because I’m doing that work at home, I feel responsible for all the other day-to-day business of family life. But it’s hard to do all those things with purpose when I don’t give myself time to focus on what inspires me as an individual, separate from those responsibilities.

Around and around I go, shaking my compass and willing it to show me which way to go.

I don’t know why it was easier for me when the kids were younger. I’d look forward to being relieved by their dad and taking a couple of hours to do some writing or explore others’ written words. Somehow, when the work of parenting shifted away from hands-on care to helping my kids find their way in the world outside our home, I got lost.

Two weeks ago, I had a pocket of time hidden in all the other things I needed to get done, and it happened to be in the neighbourhood where our town’s record shop is located. Knowing I wanted to get a gift for my husband’s birthday, I went in determined to check it off my to-do list. There was a long lineup at the cash, so I wandered over to the vintage record bins. Nothing is in order; records are placed there as they arrive. It takes time to flip through each one, lifting any that catch your eye. I found Tapestry by Carole King and knew I had to have it. When I got home and played it, it took me back to the girl who sat on her bed filling journals and notebooks with words. And I wondered why I let her get away.

I have wanted (for a long while now) to share photos of this incredible gift, as both a thank you and reminder that I am deserving of my own space. Initially, I imagined it would come together as a feel good home decor post about a cluttered closet becoming a bright writing space — but that doesn’t feel right anymore.

It’s a story about a transformation that’s waiting to happen. And I’m the only one who can tell that story. It’s waiting for me.

And you have treasures hidden within you — extraordinary treasures — and so do I, and so does everyone around us. And bringing those treasures to light takes work and faith and focus and courage and hours of devotion, and the clock is ticking, and the world is spinning, and we simply do not have time anymore to think so small

~ Elizabeth Gilbert

So today, on the morning after my birthday, I looked at it with new eyes and I let my compass show me where I need to go: through the door, to my desk, and wherever the words take me.

I don't crave escape anymore; instead I hope to capture what's right in front of me. I want the moments we spend together to be simple and real, because I know they're running away from me now. I am certain it's these ordinary tick tocks of time that will measure the happiness of their childhood. Away from the world for the day, we can choose who we want to be and leave the hard stuff on the other side of the door.

Louise Gleeson's Late Night Plays

In the quiet of the night, my thoughts all jumbled and overflowing in the rush of my day, come together like short plays. They tell the story of relationships, motherhood and an earnest hope for happy endings.